Safety of MRIs in Patients with Implantable Devices: More Data

Patients with conventional pacemakers (PPMs) or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) have generally been denied MRIs because of the concern for adverse events. In fact, this fear has led to the development of MRI-compatible ICDs and PPMs, but millions of patients have older devices, not FDA approved for MRI scans. In a recent retrospective study, most participants were safely scanned (NEJM JW Cardiol Apr 2017 and N Engl J Med 2017; 376:755). Now, researchers have conducted a prospective, single-site, registry study (NCT01130896) of 1509 patients with PPMs or ICDs and with 2103 clinically indicated MRI scans (1.5 Tesla).

Therapies were inactivated in patients with ICDs. Devices in the 9% who were pacing-dependent were programmed to …